A digital certificate is a type of electronic document that is used to verify the identity of a person, company, or other entity. A certification authority (CA) issues digital certificates and guarantees their integrity and credibility by signing them with their private key.  

The international standard for digital certificates is X.509.

How Digital Certificates work

Digital certificates use a combination of public and private key cryptography and a trusted third party, called a certification authority (CA), to verify the identity of an individual or entity.

Overall, digital certificates help to establish trust and secure communication between parties by using a trusted third party to verify identities and a combination of public and private keys to encrypt and decrypt messages.

Digital Certificate Use Cases

1. Digital signature;
   1. Document signing
   2. Software code signing
2. Digital encryption for;
   1. device to device authentication.
   2. secure email communication.